One of the leaders in connected car services and transportation analytics, Inrix, has expanded its Road Rules software system that it launched last year to enable cities and road authorities to easily digitize, manage and communicate local rules on the roadway, at the curb and on the sidewalk.
For hundreds of years, cities have been responsible for providing, maintaining and managing a safe and dependable transportation system. Personal vehicles and public transit have long been the most popular, but recent mobility innovations and ‘disruptive’ technologies have challenged cities to fulfill their traditional transportation roles. Inrix’s Road Rules platform is the first complete solution for cities and road authorities to easily digitize, manage and communicate local rules on the roadway, at the curbside and on the adjoining sidewalk. Originally launched in July 2018, the platform has now been extended beyond a digital roadway rulebook for only automated driving systems (ADS) or highly automated vehicles (HAVs) to also include support for guidelines that enable other mobility options such as loading zones and parking restrictions for transportation network companies (TNCs), dockless bike/scooter zones, and city infrastructure like fire hydrants and electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.
Road Rules helps cities address the evolving mobility issues of today and tomorrow by offering:
- Unified solution – Only transportation tool to help cities digitally manage their data in one place, providing essential rules for the roadway, curb and sidewalk;
- Easy-to-use operation – A simplified design, revamped user experience, and clear work-flows makes it easy for road authorities to digitize and manage transportation rules;
- Bridges the data gap – Open platform to share critical information with ADS/HAVs and other roadway users, encouraging innovation and safe, efficient mobility deployment;
- Open and standardized data – Makes use of the National Association of City Transportation Official’s (NACTO) ‘SharedStreets’ project to deliver truly open and interoperable data.
Since last year’s pilot launch, 11 cities and road authorities have signed on to implement Road Rules and are digitizing their infrastructure and restrictions this year, with more announced every month. The set of users includes cities and road authorities with a variety of sizes, climates and geographies, including eight cities in North America, two regions of the UK and Turin in Italy. Additionally, four ADS operators have agreed to consume the rules of the road authored by the cities: Jaguar Land Rover, May Mobility, nuTonomy (an Aptiv company) and operators running Renovo’s Aware platform.
“Today’s cities are facing an identity crisis; they are working with 20th-century transportation tools, but are facing 21st-century challenges,” said Avery Ash, Inrix’s head of autonomous mobility. “By providing a framework to bridge the data gap between cities, road users and mobility providers, including automated driving systems, we help cities remain in the driver’s seat for managing transportation.”
Mark de la Vergne, chief of mobility innovation for the City of Detroit, commented, “We are committed to staying at the forefront of advanced transportation technology testing and development, so we’re excited to partner with Inrix on this project that focuses on ensuring automated vehicles can safely navigate our streets.”
